The present disclosure relates to a seat provided with an armrest and, more specifically, to a seat provided with an armrest which is designed to be capable of being deployed and stored with respect to the seat.
In a vehicle such as an automobile, a vehicular seat on which an occupant is seated is disposed, and such a vehicular seat is often provided with an armrest. In order to improve the convenience of an occupant, such an armrest is sometimes capable of being moved between a stored position and a deployed (usage) position.
For example, in Japanese Patent Publication JP 2002-306275 and Japanese Patent Publication JP 2008-049755, an armrest is provided in a central portion of a rear seat. These armrests are configured to be capable of being displaced between a stored position where the armrest is stored along a seat back (that is, it is disposed to rise in an up and down direction) and a usage (deployed) position where the armrest is deployed in a position substantially perpendicular to the seat back. This displacement is performed by pivoting the armrest around one end (which is a lower end side at the time of storage and is a rear end side at the time of deployment) of the armrest as a fulcrum. That is, the one end side (which is the lower end side at the time of storage and is the rear end side at the time of deployment) of the armrest is rotatably supported to be pivotable with respect to the seat back, and a free end side (which is an upper end side at the time of storage and is a front end side at the time of deployment) is pivoted, thus drawing a circular arcuate locus around the one end side, thereby being displaced between the stored position and the usage (deployed) position. Then, in the seat back, a recessed portion in which the armrest can be stored at the time of storage of the armrest is formed, or a gap between the rear seats divided into two parts serves as a storage space of the armrest.
As thus described, although the armrest which is formed to be capable of being displaced between the stored position and the usage (deployed) position is used for the vehicular seat, the armrest is configured to be pivoted about the one end side as a pivot center, and therefore there was a possibility that foreign matter enters the interior in the vicinity of the pivot portion. That is, in the vicinity of the pivot center, a pivot shaft, a bearing member and the like are disposed, but there is a possibility that foreign matter enters the vicinity of these members from a small gap formed between a side surface of the armrest and a side wall of a storage portion, thus a technique for preventing this possibility has been demanded. Moreover, a technique for which a time point when displacement between the stored position and the usage (deployed) position is completely finished is recognizable by an operational feeling is demanded at the same time.